


ARC Training

by TabbyWolf



Series: Hope will never die [4]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: ARC troopers - Freeform, Bad batch arc happens in the background, F/M, Gen, I don’t know how else to tag this, Military Training, More tags might be added, Reunion, Time Travel Fix It, post-brain surgery recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2020-12-26 23:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21109007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TabbyWolf/pseuds/TabbyWolf
Summary: Jaig is promoted to ARC trooperdue to blatant favoritism from her father. Can you blame him?because she’s provided invaluable intel that will turn the tide of this war in the Republic’s favor. She still needs more training while Rex gets deployed to Anaxes with the Bad Batch, so Fives stays behind to train her





	1. Promotion

**Author's Note:**

> This start the same day the last fic ended. Jaig bonds with some of her uncles a bit more in this chapter. She also gets the news that she’s promoted

Jaig was eating in the mess with Jesse and Kix. Her father was still in the meeting, but she had been sent to the mess because she was hungry and had already told them all she knew. Her father had stayed behind because it was his duty, while he insisted that she get enough rest. She smiled to herself. This kind of hypocrisy was the father she knew. Kix had joined her in the mess some time later.

"Are you gonna tell the other men?" Kix asked.

"I'm not sure how?" she admitted.

"Tell us what?" Jesse asked.

"Uhm... It's complicated" she said.

"Do you want me to tell him?" Kix asked.

"I'm not sure. I feel like I should tell him myself but it might be easier to let you tell him"

"I don't mind. I've given worse news"

"Implying that this is bad news" she said, punching the medic in the elbow.

"Now I'm really curious" Jesse admitted.

Kix gave her a look and she nodded. He looked to Jesse and just said "We're uncles"

"What?" He looked at Jaig and then back to Kix "Who's gonna get the-" he made a snipping motion with his fingers "-in the gett'se?"

"Oh no, it's not like that" Kix said as his comm went off. He sighed "I'm supposed to be in the medbay ASAP. Surgery"

"Good luck with the nut chopping" Jesse said

Kix rolled his eyes at his brother "just give him the details Jaig"

When Kix got up, Jesse stared at her "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What was that about?"

"We have a joke that if you knock someone up Kix will make sure you don't ever do it again. We're not supposed to have kids, mostly because of second generation inbreeding"

"No one has gotten knocked up though" she said "It's a bit more complicated, but I'm just gonna say it: I'm from the future"

"What? How is that possible?" he asked.

"The force did it. I won't bore you with the details"

"So how does that make me an uncle?"

"I'm Rex's daughter"

Jesse just stared at her, and then he started laughing.

"The force really did it this time. It broke time"

"Yeah, I don't get it either. The force also decided to take the form of a bird and live in our garden"

"Damn. At least you admit that the force is weird. The Jedi have a tendency to act like the force knows everything and like stuff doesn't just happen, and like it can reliably guide us all"

"Well, it can. But it's usually very vague. Like a gut feeling. And sometimes it's an actual gut feeling. You can never be 100% sure"

"Wait, you're force sensitive?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, I got it from my mom"

"Commander Tano?"

"Yeah"

"Nice. Now Dogma would've owed me money if he was still... Never mind"

Jaig didn't respond to that. She assumed Dogma was a fallen brother and didn't want to press the issue.

Jesse sighed and checked his comm. "Tup is back in Coruscant by the way I'm going to visit him. You should see him soon as well, but I wanna see him alone first"

She nodded and went back to her food.

"Jaig, can I talk to you?" Cody asked as he walked into the mess. Part of his head was shaven and he had a bacta patch on the side of his head.

"Sure, but I'm not going to tell you about your future"

"Normally, I'd take issue with a regular line trooper addressing me like that. But honestly, today has been too much of a roller coaster for me to care. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine. It's been a bit of a roller coaster for me as well. It's nice to meet you for real this time"

"It's nice to meet you too. Did we meet in the future?"

"My father named me after General Skywalker, you and Fives. He told me about you" she said

"What did he say?"

"Not that much to be honest. He rarely got into much detail about the war. I could tell the subject was still a bit painful for him"

"I guess it would be. I never actually considered what life would be like after the war. Could you tell me about it?"

"No problem, but should we do that later. There is a lot to tell about it and I want to see Tup today"

"Of course. We should definitely talk more. I'll send you a request to meet soon, just know that you're not in trouble"

"Thanks, uncle" she said

Cody just nodded "It'll take some time to get used to that"

"Maybe it's better if I call you Uncle Cody or something. I have too many uncles to just refer to them as uncle"

"Probably. you should hurry up and find Tup before your medic puts him on bed rest" he said as he got up.

"Yeah. See you later" she said as she got up to find Tup.

* * *

"Can I see Tup?" she asked Kix, who was just pushing another clone out of the medbay.

"If he's awake. He needs his rest and if he fell asleep you should let him be" he said as he pushed his brother out.

"Why can't I go in?" he asked the medic.

"Because you already visited Tup and you were keeping him awake, _Loud_" Kix said.

Jaig just shook her head and went inside the medbay.

Tup was still awake, so she walked up to his cot.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm fine, but I'm still a bit high on painkillers. What did I miss? Kix refuses to tell me"

"A lot, but are you sure you want to talk about it instead of resting?"

"Yes, I have to know" he said "some people said that Fives almost died after trying to kill the chancellor and that General Skywalker might kill our captain"

"Fives did almost die, and he did try to kill the chancellor after he found out that the chancellor is a Sith Lord. I managed to save him"

"That's... a lot to take in. What about Rex?"

"That's actually a much longer story"

"Just give me the short version"

"I'm actually Rex's daughter from the future and we were afraid General Skywalker would kill him for that"

"Why would having a child in the future upset General Skywalker that much?"

"Because my mother used to be his padawan"

“Yeah he might kill him for that. I don’t know. I’m too high on painkillers to care. That’s probably why I believe you right away”

“Yeah, probably. Take your time. I don’t expect you to believe me right away”

“Thank you. I think I should probably get some rest now. Good luck with helping your dad survive” Tup said as he laid back down.

“Thanks” She said as she walked out of the medbay to let Tup rest.

* * *

The next day, she was eating breakfast in the mess with Fives, Jesse, Tup and Kix when her dad showed up.

“I need to talk to you and Jesse” he told her “Fives, you should come too”

She nodded and followed him to his office.

“Jaig, Jesse” he said as he looked at both of them “you’re both being promoted to ARC Trooper”

“I’m honoured, Sir” Jesse said.

“Thanks dad, but shouldn’t I fight a bit more for that? I’m only one battle away from being a shiny”

“No Jaig, you deserve it. I’m proud of you” he said “you provided us with extremely valuable intel. That’s some advanced reconnaissance right there. And you’re a natural leader, like me. You’re perfect for it”

“Thanks dad, but-“

“No buts. I can’t send you to Kamino for your entire training, because I don’t want them to find out you’re half clone, so Fives will stay behind and train you”

“Should I stay behind as well?” Jesse asked “so she has someone to practice with?”

“No, you can just do the test today. I’ll make sure your new gear is ready today. The paint should be dry when we ship out tomorrow morning if you let it dry overnight”

“Yes sir”

Fives raised his hand.

“Yes, Fives?”

“Why don’t you train her yourself? You received ARC training as well and are just as qualified as I am”

“Because I’m being sent to Anaxes tomorrow. Jesse will come with us as well”

“Oh, Anaxes!” Jaig said before she could stop herself.

“Is there anything I should know about the mission?” Rex asked her.

“No. There is something I know, but I decided it was better if you don’t know”

“Please. I want to prevent any deaths if I can” he said.

“Sorry, but this isn’t about a casualty. This is about a chance meeting with someone. If you act differently, you might miss that chance”

“Who am I supposed to meet?”

“You’ll know who it is when it happens” she said.

“Okay. Is there really nothing you can tell me?”

“I know one detail that I could probably share”

“Anything that could help would be invaluable”

“Jesse, please film my father’s reaction and the General’s reaction to the Nose art the Bad Batch has on their gunship with your helmet”

“Yes sir” Jesse said, amused.

“How is that going to be helpful to the mission?”

“It’s not. But you always regretted not capturing that moment on film. And it’d make a great addition to the GAR’s list of best helmet cam footage”

“Alright then. Jaig, your training starts tomorrow. Everyone is dismissed”

When she walked out of the office, she smiled to herself. Both because of the footage she might get and because she knew Fives would be so happy to see who’d be coming back from Anaxes with Rex.


	2. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaig trains with fives and tells him what happened in the original timeline. After that, her father comes back with a “new” uncle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the new chapter. There’s some angst in here but also a happy reunion :)

"And that's 50" Jaig said as she hit the last target.

"Nice, no misses this time" Fives said.

"Hey, I only missed two times last time" she said.

"and that's very good for a shiny nat, but now you've gotta live up to ARC Trooper standards" he said, smirking.

"Thanks. How am I holding up so far?"

"You're definitely getting there. But I think it might be better to take a break now. You look tired and it's important to get some food now and then"

"Sounds like a plan" she said as she followed Fives to the mess.

"I used to get lunch with Echo all the time. He was my batchmate" Fives told her.

"I know, I... heard of him" she said, remembering the grave on Mandalore"

"Okay. I just thought you should know about him. He had a habit of repeating orders, loved reg manuals and we did our ARC training together. Doing it with you kinda reminds me of him"

Jaig just nodded. She was never good with emotional support. But she didn't have to say anything, she walked straight into the mess with Fives at the next corner.

"A ration bar for me, and she needs meat" he said to the clone at the counter.

"Isn't she an omnivore too?" he asked.

"I'm unsure. But give her meat just in case. We don't want to make her sick" he said.

The other clone shrugged and handed them both their food.

"I'm an omnivore by the way, so you don't need to get meat for me"

"I know, but you deserve it" he said. 

"Thanks" she said as she dug in. The meat was surprisingly good for what she had expected from the GAR.

"Hey, I gotta make up for shooting you in the back somehow"

"Are you still worried about that?" she asked.

"To be honest, a bit. I mean, I shot you just after you deflected a bullet for me"

"Yeah, but it was understandable. And you tried to shoot Fox and I got in the way"

"Actually, I tried to shoot you because something jumped in front of me and I was startled. I only saw it was you after I fired"

"Oh. Well, no harm done" she said.

"That's how your dad reacts when I shoot him in training as well" he said, smiling to himself. She smiled as well, remembering how she had shot her father a few times as well and how he always laughed it off.

"Did we get to visit often?" Fives asked

"What do you mean?"

"We. Torrent. Your uncles. I'm sure we were all very excited when you were born, and I'm willing to bet I'd visit you as often as I could"

"You... You don't know" she said, more to herself than to him.

"Know what?"

"Didn't they tell you during the meeting?"

"Tell me what?"

"Fives, did you pay any attention during that meeting at all?"

"To be honest, no. I only remember some parts of the beginning. I was still pretty exhausted from being drugged up like that. And I was too angry about the Chancellor being a Sith Lord to pay attention to mentions of me"

she sighed.

"I remember you saying that you didn't want to share anyone's individual fate, so I didn't bother asking"

She rubbed her eyes. "I don't know how you'll die" she said.

"So, I never came to visit? Did you know who I was at all?"

"Of course I did. My father said your name every day. You were killed in that storage unit, Fives"

She could see his face grow pale as the knowledge sunk in.

"I what?"

"Fox would've killed you if I hadn't interfered. It's why I chose to act, even if changing the past made the new future uncertain. I couldn't watch someone die when I could do something about it"

"I... Wouldn't have been here. And the information about the chips would've died with me" he said, more to himself than to her.

"Not exactly" she admitted "You told my father enough to remove his own chip so it could be tested. Jesse removed his as well. So did Kix. But they didn't want to risk getting killed and taking the secret to their graves. So they were the only ones who knew"

"That's a lot to take in. Wait, is this what you meant when you said that I saved your parents?"

"Yes. Because my father knew about order 66, he managed to sneak my mom away from the rest of the clones before they found her. Technically, that counted as treason. So he usually didn't want to talk about it. I don't know too many details to be honest"

"This is a lot to take in"

"I know"

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"Do you want to do another drill together to get your mind off of things?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea" the ARC Trooper said.

* * *

"The 501st troops from Anaxes will be arriving in hangar 76 in ten minutes" the message on her HUD said. Fives shot her one look and then they both bolted for the stop button on the sim's control panel. The droids all powered down.

"Do you think I'm ready for the final test now?" Jaig asked Fives as they ran towards the hangar.

"Probably, you've made a lot of improvement on everything since you told me what happened to me in your timeline, even though I've been a bit off from it these last few weeks"

"That's nice"

When they entered the hangar, the Resolute was just touching down and they made it to the main exit just as it opened.

"Dad!" Jaig said as her father walked out with General Skywalker. She ran up to him and hugged him tight.

"I missed you too" he said.

"How did the mission go?" she asked as she let him go.

"Great. I think I found who I was supposed to find"

"Who was it?" Fives asked.

Rex just smiled and looked at the entrance. Jaig and Fives followed his gaze.

A pale clone came out of the ship, walking unsteadily on his prosthetic legs. His right arm was replaced with a socket-arm and he had several plugs in his head, between which his dark hair was starting to regrow.

"No... It can't be" Fives said in disbelieve "Echo? Is that you?"

"Hi Fives. It's good to see you're still alive"

"Echo!" Fives said, louder this time as the reality of situation finally sunk in and he ran towards his brother.

When he reached him, he grabbed Echo's face and took a good look at it before wrapping his arms around his brother and pulling him close.

"I can't believe this. What happened?"

"Long story short, I was captured by the separatists and kept in stasis while they used me for intel. Rex found me by pure chance and we won the day"

"You have to tell me all about it"

"I will. What happened here?"

"A lot. I can't tell you all of it in one go" Fives said, his voice sounding a little choked up.

"You'll have a few days to talk about it, after that Jaig is taking the final test to become an ARC Trooper. I suppose you don't want to miss that after overseeing her training?"

"Of course not. Echo, do you want to watch the test with me?"

"Definitely, I can't wait to see one of our Vod'ika's that you've trained graduate"

"Oh she's not a brother. She's our niece" Fives said casually.

"What do you mean?"

Jaig decided it was time to introduce herself.

"Hi, I'm Jaig. It's nice to finally meet you after hearing so much about you"

"A nat? That's surprising. I'm Echo, but you already knew that apparently"

"Hey, she's not a nat" Fives said as Rex buried his face in one hand.

"Yes I am, I wasn't grown in a jar"

"Yeah, but you're half clone and the other half of your DNA comes from someone who I still consider my sister. So you count as a clone to me" Fives argued.

"Thanks, but I think you're just making it more confusing for Echo"

"Yes, I'm confused now"

"It's a long story" Jaig said "And I wasn't planning on giving you the full story until you settled down first, but Fives left me no choice"

"Sorry" Fives said "I was too excited"

"Okay. Well, I'm the daughter of Rex and Ahsoka Tano, and after the aftermath of the clone wars caused the world to sink into darkness as the Sith took over and all attempts at rebellion failed, the physical manifestation of the light side off the force send me back in time to help the Chosen One fulfill the prophecy"

Echo just stared at her. "Is there any way to make this even weirder?"

"I'm older than my father and only a year younger than my mom now if I did the math correctly"

"Okay" Echo said "Fives will explain the rest to me when we catch up, right?"

"Yeah" Fives said.

"Okay. Then I'll see you at your test. Good luck"

"Thanks. Take care" she said.

“Can we do some training together before you take the test?” Her father asked

“Of course” she said

“Wait up!” Someone from inside the ship said. When she turned around, she saw Jesse running towards her with a data disk

“I got you the footage you wanted. You should definitely upload it the the GAR’s internal network”

“Thanks, Jesse” she said.

“No problem” he said and he mover on to the rest of the barracks, probably to show off his shiny new pauldrons

“Don’t worry, you’ll have yours soon enough. I’m sure of it” Rex said

“Thanks Dad”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading :D


	3. Message from Mandalore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaig takes the test, passes and celebrates with her father and uncles. Later, they receive a message from Mandalore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the last chapter of this fic, but I have a total of eight fics planned in this series so there’s gonna be four more. Also I finally decided on a look for Jaig and I don’t know how to include the images on here (well, I do to a degree but I don’t want to bother trying to find the direct link on mobile) so here’s a link to where I posted them on tumblr: https://cuteshinymew.tumblr.com/post/188785657180/hope-will-never-die-tabbywolf-star-wars-the  
Sorry for the ugly blog, I’m on mobile. Also sorry for the link not working. You’ll have to copy it

The last droid fell to it's knees when Jaig fired her last shot into it's chest and the buzzer rang. She fell to her knees as well. The last round had been gruelling, but she had managed to fight off the twelve B2 super battle droids that came at her at once. Her armour was noticeably warm from the blasterfire, and it was definitely going to need a new paint job now, but she made it.

Just as she tried to get up, the doors of the sim opened and several clones came running in.

"You did it!" Fives said as he pulled her up and almost slammed her into his chest in what she assumed was supposed to be a hug.

"Nice!" Jesse said as he hit her in the shoulder.

Her father and Echo followed them, her father was hiding something behind his back. Tup and Kix were there as well.

"Congratulations" Echo said "I'm glad there is another ARC Trooper now. If you need some advice on the regs that my idiot brother didn't teach you, I'd be happy to help"

"Thank you"

"Hey, I did put the regs on her datapad for her!" Fives argued.

"I didn't know that" Jaig admitted.

"See?" Echo said.

Her father cleared his throat.

"Jaig, I'm so proud of you for making it this far so fast" 

Jesse coughed "favouritism" and Kix laughed at that, but none of them seemed to mind too much. Rex just ignored them.

"You've officially made it to ARC Trooper, congratulations" he said as he pulled out two shiny new pauldrons.

"Thanks for giving me the chance to take the test" she said as he put the pauldrons on her shoulders.

"We should celebrate this" Fives said.

"Yeah, definitely. We should hit 79's tonight" Tup said.

"Good idea. I'll invite Cody too" Rex said.

"Can I come too?" General Skywalker asked.

"Sir?" Rex asked, looking around the room awkwardly.

The other clones looked confused too.

"Sir, I personally wouldn't mind, but..." Fives started.

"It might get awkward" Echo finished.

"How so?" the General asked.

"Well, 79's is a place where we go to relax" Kix said "And while I doubt any of us mind," he looked around the room to see if anyone protested. They didn't. "I doubt the clones from other battalions would be comfortable with a Jedi around"

"Yeah, that" Jesse said

"So, we have to make sure they don't know you're a Jedi" Fives said.

"Then you guys will probably have to stop treating me as your superior officer for this to work" the General said.

The clones fell silent.

"Okay then" Fives said.

* * *

When they got to 79's with the General dressed in some civvies he borrowed from Fives, the other clones there gave them weird looks for being with two nats. Fives just pushed the General to the bar.

"Come on, stop being nervous. You're embarrassing us"

"Sorry" he said "I'm just nervous"

"It's okay... dude" Rex said awkwardly "You're with us"

They get to the bar, and order a round and get a table. Jaig ended up between Cody and Echo.

"Congratulations on making it to ARC Trooper that fast" Cody said.

"Thanks" she said.

"Are you nervous?"

"Not really, why would I be?"

"Because judging by how your father talks about you, there was definitely some favouritism involved in the decision. Probably some making up for lost time or something too"

"I didn't know he talked about me"

"He won't shut up about you. Usually he's either really proud of something you did, or concerned that he's not doing a good enough job as a father"

"Well, he has nothing to worry about. I don't really have any expectations from him. After all, I kind of showed up randomly in the middle of a war. I knew he didn't have time to raise me as well. That's why I didn't tell him at first. Besides, I'm 16. I'm supposed to learn how to be independent now"

"Well, you probably have to tell him that. And if anyone gives you trouble about your promotion, please tell me. I know it's not undeserved, but to be honest he should've waited until you were at least less shiny and had the chance to prove yourself for the entire battalion instead of just him and his friends"

"I know, thank you"

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to your father now" he said as he got up and went to the other side of the table where Rex was talking to Jesse and Kix.

Jaig looked to her other side and saw that Echo was talking with Fives and the General, who had removed his prosthetic and handed it to Echo, who was looking at it.

"So if you want me to give you a hand, just say the word" he said, and Fives audibly groaned while Echo tried to keep his face straight.

"Thanks for the offer, s- dude" Echo awkwardly said "I'd definitely appreciate having ten fingers again, but the socket has come in handy too"

"I'll make sure it can do both" he said, but then he noticed Jaig "Be right back, I wanna talk to Jaig"

He got up and took Cody's place.

"How are you" he asked.

"I'm fine. You?"

"I'm fine as well. I want to ask you something. Can we spend more time together? Now that I've had time to process the situation, I want to spend more time with my niece. And as family too, I don't want to just be your general"

"Sounds good to me. What did you have in mind?"

"Do you want me to teach you a bit more about lightsabers?" he offered.

"Yeah, that sounds great. My mom taught me a bit but I didn't have nearly enough training with them to be honest"

"Why not?"

"Lightsabers, and anything relating to the Jedi, were illegal in the future. So we could only practice while on vacation when there were no other people nearby, and we spend most of that time on deflecting blasterfire, since I was way more likely to encounter someone with a blaster. Everyone has a blaster on Mandalore"

"What would've happened if you were caught?"

"The Inquisitors. They were force sensitive servants of the Empire, and they hunted down the remaining Jedi. I had an encounter with one once when I was 12. I managed to use her own lightsaber against her, and got awarded both my Jaig eyes and the crystals from the saber. I used them to build my own"

"Can I see them?"

She nodded and grabbed the sabers from her backplate. Anakin held out his stump, so she just put them on the table. When he realised he wasn't wearing his prostetic, he just shrugged and picked up both sabers with the force.

"Is this Beskar?" he asked.

"Yeah, my dad became a blacksmith after the war. He made the parts for my lightsaber, and also my armour even though mom said no"

"Why would she say no?"

"Togruta keep growing after puberty, and we didn't know if I would. Because if I did, I'd need a lot of resizing done" 

"I didn't know that. Is Ahsoka going to be much taller?"

"I don't know how tall she is now"

"About your height"

"Yeah, she's still gonna grow then. She's your height in the future"

"Okay. That's a weird idea"

"For me it's weird that she's my height and age"

"That's fair. Can you come by tomorrow for lightsaber practice?"

"Of course"

* * *

The blue blade came at her, but she blocked it with her right saber instantly.

"You're getting better" Anakin said as he pushed her back with his saber.

She broke the lock and stepped out of the way while trying to hit him with the other saber. He blocked and stepped back, circling around her.

Then, his comm beeped "General? I need you to come to the bridge right away"

"What is it Rex?"

"It's important"

"Rex..."

"You'll have to see for yourself"

Anakin sighed "Alright Rex. But this better be important" He said as he cut the connection.

"Jaig, practice those kata's I taught you until I get back or until someone else comes to get you"

"Yes Sir" she said and he left.

She did the kata's for about 15 minutes until there was a knock on the door. She opened the door and there was her father.

"Your mother called. We're going to Mandalore" he said as he held up a small hologram of a previously recorded message. It was a paused image of her mother, much younger than she remembered. Her lekku weren't fully grown yet, but she was clearly starting her last growth spurt. 

Suddenly, Jaig was nervous. This young woman didn't look like the mother she remembered. Neither did her father, but her father was still biologically older than her and carried himself much more seriously now than he did in the future.

"What's wrong?" her father asked.

"How are we gonna tell her?" she asked.

"I don't know. We'll figure something out"

She nodded and followed her father to the briefing room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it :) thanks for reading

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :) please leave kudos or comment to let me know that you guys enjoy it. I really appreciate them :D


End file.
